April 5, 2007
George returns to By George
John Young and Mike Magrath were just trying to clean out the Ceramic/Metal Arts studio when they pulled up a tarpaulin and found themselves face to face with George Washington. George, or a 6-foot-10-inch plaster version of him, had a broken arm, but he was still “a handsome devil,” Young said.
This is not a copy of the much larger George Washington statue that greets people as they come across the 15th Avenue skybridge, but it has been around the University for a long time. It was donated by Winlock Miller (a long-serving regent for whom Miller Hall is named) in 1911 and is one of a number of casts taken from a marble statue by Jean-Antoine Houdon that stands in the Virginia State Capitol. It has had several homes at the University, most recently at By George.
By George Manager Joyce Nickels said that starting in 1994, the statue stood in the dining area about halfway between the security gate and the front counter, and though she didn’t know how his arm was broken, the high traffic location meant that he “took quite a beating.”
So, in 1998, poor George was shipped over to the Ceramic/Metal Arts studio for repairs, where he was apparently forgotten, until now.
“He was just this tarp-covered lump buried in a remote corner of our facility,” said Young, who recently became the chair of the Sculpture Program in the School of Art. When he and Magrath, a guest instructor in sculpture, peeked under the tarpaulin and found George, they naturally tried to find out what had happened. But all they were able to learn was that the statue had arrived “eight or nine years ago.” Young had to call around to discover where it belonged.
Once they’d located the statue’s rightful owner, Magrath went ahead and repaired the broken arm and gave George a paint job, restoring his original colors.
George has a right to be a little bit disheveled. He’s had quite an odyssey at the University. He first stood in the vestibule to the old Meany Hall. Then in 1927 he was moved to Suzzallo Library, where he remained until 1963. From there he went to the Burke Museum, He was displayed there from 1968 until 1974 and stored from 1974 to 1994.
Jean Lee, facilities design manager for Housing and Food Services, remembers that the Burke was getting ready to do a renovation in 1994 and was clearing out their archives. “They thought By George might be one obvious place to display the statue,” she said, “and we said, ‘Let’s find a place for him.'”
George was not completely healthy when he arrived, Lee said. “His paint was chipped and he needed cleaning. And the arm was already pretty fragile.” HFS staffers did what they could to spiff him up before placing him in the dining room, with stanchions and ropes to protect him.
But it wasn’t enough. Lee said she was sure the broken arm was an accident, the result of inadvertent jostling by people waiting in line.
That’s why “Dear George,” as HFS staffers have taken to calling him now, was given a new position in By George when he was returned to the restaurant late last week. He’s off to the side near the deli and in front of a pillar. And yes, ropes and stanchions once again stand between him and the crowds
A welcome home ceremony is planned soon, but in the meantime By George patrons might want to give George a smile. Just no pats on the back — or the arm.
